Profiles

Dr Christine Boomsma

Biography

Role

Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the EnerGAware Project: Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities.

EnerGAware is a 3 year (Feb 2015 - Feb 2018) EU funded (H2020) project working with social housing tenants to reduce fuel poverty and energy consumption through the co-design of a 'serious game'. The project will investigate whether a serious game integrated with the energy metering system of the home can provide a novel way for householders to manage their energy use by allowing people to assess the energy, environmental and financial benefits of energy-efficiency measures. This is an interdisciplinary project with academic and business partners across Europe.

Before EnerGAware I worked as a Research Fellow on the following projects:

The eViz project (eviz.org.uk) was a 3.5 year (Sep 2012 - Feb 2016) UK Research Council (EPSRC) funded project investigating how novel energy visualisations can be used to engage households and organisations with energy use. The interdisciplinary project was carried out by four universities: Plymouth University, Newcastle University, University of Bath and University of Birmingham.

Through Others' Eyes was a 6 month project (Jun 2014 - Nov 2014) funded by the Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research at Plymouth University. I led this project as the Principal Investigator and managed a research assistant. The research was conducted in close collaboration with the NMA in Plymouth and investigated the role of visitor values in a visit to the aquarium.

Thermal Imaging Intervention in Cornwall was a project funded by DECC in collaboration with the Eden Project. The project examined the role of tailoring in the context of a thermal imaging intervention in households across Cornwall over the course of one year (2013).

Qualifications

2009 M.Sc. (Cum Laude) in Research Methods, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

2008 M.Sc. in Social Psychology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

2007 B.Sc. in Psychology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Professional membership

IAPS - International Association of People-Environment Studies

IAAP - International Association of Applied Psychology

Teaching

Teaching interests

I have been involved in the supervision of undergraduate students during their final year project on environmental psychology, around topics such as energy visualisation, recycling behaviour, and future perceptions of climate change.

Research

Research interests

In my work as academic researcher in the field of environmental social science I look at the interaction between people and their environment. I am interested in how individuals and communities perceive and respond to their environment and global environmental issues, and the difficulties they encounter when engaging in mitigation behaviours. I have worked in interdisciplinary teams, collaborated with diverse stakeholders, and have extensive experience with both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

The majority of my research over the past five years has focused on the human dimension of energy systems. Within this field I've have studied how new technologies such as serious games, thermal imaging, feedback displays, and virtual reality can be integrated within the household.

Boomsma, C., Goodhew, J., Goodhew, S., & Pahl, S. (2016). Improving the visibility of energy use in home heating in England: Thermal images and the role of visual tailoring. Energy Research and Social Science, 14, 111-121.

Boomsma, C., Goodhew, J., Pahl, S., & Jones, R.V. (2016). The feasibility of saving energy in challenging organisational contexts: Testing energy visualisation in a social services office in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 15, 58-74.

Goodhew, J., Boomsma, C., Pahl, S. (2014). A mixed method study of the role of tailoring in the design of visual interventions for domestic energy efficiency.Proceedings from BEHAVE'14: 3rd European conference on behaviour and energy efficiency. Oxford, UK.

Personal

Other academic activities

Psychology and Sustainability Research Group

I'm a member of the Psychology and Sustainability Research Group at the School of Psychology. The group has fortnightly meetings where current studies and research ideas are discussed. More information can be found on the Research Group Website.